What to look for

The first thing you need to know about rope is how dynamic it is. The best climbing ropes are the most dynamic climbing ropes is one that will stretch if you fall onto it, taking some of the shock and impact out of any slip while you abseil – and making it more comfortable if you fall while climbing.

If you are only going to abseil you may choose a static rope which will not stretch at all and gives you less bounce as you descend, but at some point most abseilers will also climb so for the added comfort and versatility it is a good idea to get a dynamic rope.

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There are lots of different dry treatments available but if you can find one that treats both the outside of the rope (the sheath) and the inside (the core) that should give you the best dry protection possible.

The last thing you need to decide about your rope is how long it should be. It might sound obvious but you need a rope that is longer than the drop you are trying to abseil.

If you are planning to simply abseil you will only need enough rope to cover the distance once with some spare for tying off, but if you are planning to climb up and then abseil down a surface you will need twice the length of rope because it will need to stretch from the floor to the top and then give you enough spare rope to make it back down again.

This means that for a 20 meter climb you will need at least a 40m rope to complete your abseil.

To hold your weight on the rope while you abseil you’re going to need a harness. Harnesses come in many different shapes and sizes for all types of climbing, but if you are just looking to abseil you need a simple, all round versions.

What to look for

Nearly all harnesses follow the same basic design, a waist belt, two leg loops and a belay loop. The waist belt fits around your waist, the leg loops go over your legs and the belay loop is where you attach your belay device from when you abseil.

Most harnesses also come with at least one gear loop which is where you can attach additional climbing equipment but if you’re looking for a harness purely to abseil with, you don’t really need many of these.

The most important thing when buying a harness for climbing or abseiling is that it fits comfortably. Harnesses are available in a variety of sizes and also come in men’s and women’s models so try a few before you pick one to make sure you get the best fit.

A harness should fit snugly around your body without any big gaps between you and the harness and without cutting into your legs or waist. Don’t be put off by your first fitting, all harnesses are adjustable, usually with auto locking buckles that make changing the size of the waist and leg loops easy.

At the back of the harness you will also find risers which are elasticated strips that keep your leg loops in the right place. Adjusting these can make a big difference to how a harness feels so they are worth tweaking before you reject a harness as uncomfortable.

It’s a great idea to go for a harness fitting in an outdoor store like Snow and Rock. Not only will you be able to quickly get a feel for a variety of different harnesses but most big stores should also give you the chance to do a hang test. Hang tests let you sit in the harness while it’s suspended above the floor to give you an idea of what the harness will feel like when you’re using it.

Bear in mind that nearly every harness will feel uncomfortable after more than 5 minutes, but you should be able to sit with a reasonable degree of comfort, feeling fully supported, for at least a couple of minutes in the one you choose.

Where and how much?

Harnesses range from around £30 up to a couple of hundred for industrial tree surgeon set ups, but you should be able to get a comfortable starting model for around the £40 mark. Popular brands to look out for are Black Diamond and Petzl which can both be picked up at Snow and Rock or from your local outdoor store.

Manual devices are usually quite simple in design, featuring a single piece of metal which you loop the rope through and then attach both the rope and belay device to your harness with a metal clip called a carabiner.

The rope then feeds through the device quickly or slowly depending on the position of your breaking hand and how tightly you pull the rope across the device. This straightforward style is easy to use and works well with most thicknesses of rope.

Assisted breaking devices come in a much wider variety of styles but one of the most popular is the Grigri. This device, designed by Petzl, feeds the rope through a rotating cam which will pinch if there is a sudden load applied to the rope, stopping you from falling. To abseil you pull a lever which allows the rope to move through the device.

This is great in the case of a sharp slip or fall but can sometimes be complicated to set up and use for inexperienced abseilers. You also need to make sure you are using a thickness of rope that works well with any assisted breaking device.

Some people might feel safer with an assisted locking device like the Grigri. They are not 100 per cent fool proof and still require careful attention to operate properly, but if you feel confident using it then assisted models could be for you. Most climbers and abseilers however, start with a manual device which provides a simple and accessible way to start abseiling.

Where and how much?

For manual devices look out for brands including Wild Country and Black Diamond, while Petzl and Mammut are among the popular names in assisted breaking. Prices range from as little as £10 up to around £20 for a manual device and assisted versions can cost between £40 to £80 a pop. Check out trekkinn.com for some great prices on both types of device.

4) Accessory Cord

A piece of cord can have lots of uses for outdoor athletes from replacing a broken shoelace to attaching equipment to your pack, but in abseiling this simple piece of kit can be an essential part of your safety gear too.

5) Climbing Rope Protector

When you’re abseiling you need to keep all of your gear in as good condition as possible and check it regularly to make sure that it’s not damaged before you use it. Thankfully when it comes to ropes there is a special piece of equipment just for keeping them in good nick.

When abseiling, your ropes will start to deteriorate through friction as they rub on anchors and rough surfaces that you’re abseiling down. This problem is particularly bad when the rope is pressed down along the lip of cliffs and buildings, but this is where rope protectors come in.

What to look for

Rope protectors come in a variety of styles but they are all designed to protect your rope from contacting the rough edge at the top of whatever you are abseiling down.

At the simplest end of things a rope protector can be nothing more than a piece of mat or carpet which is laid over the lip and attached securely to stop it from falling over the edge. There are professional canvas and plastic versions available but a sturdy piece of doormat from your local carpet suppliers could work just as well.

Another common type of rope protector is the sleeve style. These slip over or wrap around the rope providing a protective outer cover for your abseiling line. Brands such as Mammut, DMM and Spiroll are well known for this type of covering but again this is easy to make a home made version of. Using a piece of garden hose with spiral cut running down it should grip to most types of rope providing a reasonably cheap and effective form of protection.

Finally you have step systems which sit in place between the rope and the edge, providing a smoother running surface for your abseiling rope. Systems like these include edge rollers which slot on to the lip of your descent with an aluminium roller to reduce friction. Petzl also have a model called the Caterpillar which looks like a small ladder and uses a set of metal rungs to guide the rope with minimal friction.

Where and how much?

If you do not want to go for one of the home made options you can end up paying anything from £10 for a sleeve protector up to almost £200 for an industrial level edge roller. As a simple standby you can grab a sleeve style DMM rope protector from abacus-ise.co.uk for under £10.

Hybrid helmets use a mid thickness plastic shell with expanded foam inside to cushion your head. They are lighter than hard shells and are a good all round style to go for.

Superlight helmets have a thin polycarbonate shell, again over an expanded foam interior. These are the lightest helmets available but they’re the most expensive too.

Most models of helmet come in a range of sizes and have a great deal of adjustability too with chin straps, side straps and headband adjustment essential for getting the perfect fit. Finding a comfortable helmet is down to your personal judgement but when it’s on properly a helmet should sit centrally on your head without wobbling or causing pressure in your temples while the chin strap should fit snugly but not cut into your chin.

Where and how much?

One word of advice, don’t buy second hand helmets. A single hard blow can be enough to render a helmet useless and it’s not always easy to tell from the outside what damage may already have been done to a second hand lid.

Price wise you’re looking from about £25 for a hard shell up to around £75 for a top end superlight helmet. Right now you can grab a popular hybrid style, Petzl Elios for around £32 from Trekkinn.com.

7) Carabiners

Carabiners are the metal clips that you see all over the place in climbing. They’re used to attach things together, kit to your bag, protection to your harness and your rope into protection. They’re a relatively cheap but important part of your rock climbing and abseiling gear.

What to look for

Carabiners come in three main shapes, oval, D shaped and asymmetrically D-shaped and each style has a spring loaded gate in one side.

Oval shaped carabiners are the older style, they are not quite as strong as D shaped carabiners but they are good for carrying gear. D shaped carabiners are stronge carabiner and are easier to clip on to things because of their shape. Lastly asymmetrical carabiners are lighter and even easier to clip than regular Ds because they have a wider gate.

When buying a carabiner you should look for is a locking model. Regular carabiners just push open and then spring closed but locking carabiners have an additional feature that makes sure the clip won’t spring open again until you want it to. Sudden falls or slips can result in something called gate lash where your carabiner springs open momentarily and even brushing against hard rocks etc. has a chance of pushing open a regular carabiner. For this reason locking carabiners are a must for climbing and abseiling because the last thing you want is your belay device coming off in the middle of a climb – or a descent.

Locking carabiners are heavier than regular carabiners and come in both manual and self locking designs. Manual locking carabiners have a cuff that you screw by hand to lock the gate shut while self locking designs usually have a spring loaded cuff that pops up when you close the gate and needs to be pulled down again before you can reopen the clip. This makes them quick to use but you need to make sure they are fully closed before you climb or abseil with them. You can also get hybrid systems that combine both manual and self locking features and there’s a new model of twin gated carabiner, released in 2014 by Grivel, which offers the ease of use of a regular carabiner with the security of a self locking device.

Where and how much?

When buying a carabiner it’s important not to be drawn in by super cheap models that cost around £3 or sometimes less. These are often just decorative clips used as key ring holders etc. If you are buying online make sure you go with a recognised brand like Black Diamond or Petzl or pop into your local outdoor store and get some advice from staff about the best locking models they have for abseiling.

Manual locking carabiners start from around £7 while autolocks are usually priced at £10 and up. You can pick up a manual Black Diamond Airlock Screwgate carabiner for just under £7 from exxpozed.com.

What to look for

Thankfully there are easier ways to create an anchor point than carting a giant metal stake and a sledge hammer everywhere with you. There are lots of different lightweight devices you can use to secure your rope to the rock and collectively they are known as protection, sometimes abbreviated to ‘pro’.

Protection comes in many different shapes and sizes but there are two main types, passive protection and active protection.

Passive protection consists of single pieces of metal attached to a loop of wire which you can then clip carabiners onto. The most common form of passive protection is known as a nut or stopper. It’s shaped like a wedge and slides into cracks in the rock where it jams to form an anchor point. Because passive protection is made of a single piece of metal it’s very strong, durable and easy to place.

The downside is that you need to find a crack in the rock around that narrows in order for the wedge shape to work and you might need to carry a large range of nuts so that you’ll have the right sized wedge to fit the cracks that are available.

Active protection also features a loop of wire for clipping on to but it uses a mechanical head to create friction with the rock instead of a wedge shape like in passive protection. The most common type of active protection is a cam which has a series of spring loaded ‘lobes’ that are pulled in with a trigger so they can slide into a gap. When the trigger is released, the lobes spring out, gripping the rock inside the gap.

Because it’s mechanical, active pro is more expensive and also more fragile than passive protection. However, it’s also more versatile because one piece is able to fit a larger number of cracks and the gear is lighter too.

Whenever you’re building an anchor it is important to back it up, making sure that the rope is attached to at least 2 or 3 different pieces of protection. This means that if one fails you should still be held securely by your backups. To ensure that you can always backup it’s a good idea to have a range of different types of protection so that you have the best chance of creating secure anchors on any rock face.

Where and how much?

Nuts can set you back around £5 each with a good starter set beginning at about the £40 mark. A single cam comes in at almost £50 with sets starting nearer £100. Black Diamond and DMM are popular names to watch out for and elitemountainsupplies.co.uk offer some great deals on all ranges of protection.

Rope bags come with a variety of strap styles, from over the shoulder to back-pack, so think about what else you might be carrying and which style you will find most comfortable. You also want to look out for pockets to carry items like protection or your car keys which could save you having to take an extra bag for your other gear.

Finally look for anything on the bag that makes it simpler to pack away like compression straps or tie in loops on the tarp. Extra features like this can save you quite a bit of time and make the whole process of abseiling much easier.

Where and how much?

Rope bags can cost anywhere from £20 to £60 or more. A great starting model is the DMM Classic Rope Bag. It’s got a decent sized tarp with tie in loops, extra carrying pocket and a variable strap system which makes it easy to carry. You can get one from tauntonleisure.com for around £32.

10) Climbing & Abseiling Guidebook

A guidebook is a great way to find outdoor climbing spots or the best places to try abseiling. You might already know about some local drops but it’s always good to have a bit of variety and you’d be surprised by how many stunning places there are to slide down a rope in the UK.

If you’re heading down to a nearby crag there’s always the chance that it’s too busy or maybe the weather isn’t ideal for your first choice of route, this is where a guidebook comes in handy to provide an alternative.

Most people would probably jump on their phone but the beauty of a guidebook is that it works even when there’s no phone signal which, let’s face it, can be pretty common in the isolated spots you’re likely to find yourself climbing in.

The idea of a carrying a book around might also seem a bit old school if you’re packing the latest E-reader, but when you’re heading down to a crag, chances are a real book is going to survive bumping on rocks and a spot of water much better than an expensive Kindle.

What to look for

There are plenty of great online resources for finding somewhere to abseil, so there’s nothing to stop you doing a bit of research and printing out a home made guidebook of the local area or wherever you fancy heading off for a spot of abseiling.

The trick here is not to Google abseiling but instead climbing routes. Abseil searches will more often than not result in charity events or training courses, rather than somewhere to do it yourself.

All good climbing routes need a solid place to anchor, and usually have some stunning views, so a good climbing route will nearly always be a good abseiling route too.

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